It’s not that those tests are meaningless, just that specific lab values in RA patients don’t mean what they do in someone without RA.

If I read the article right, changes for a specific patient could reflect that patient’s disease activity. It would not be at all indicative of that person’s disease severity compared to a different individual’s lab values.

I know for myself that I can predict – based on how I feel – whether those lab values will be higher or lower. I’m starting to wonder about the point of paying for tests that confirm what I already know.

Can other people predict how much their ESR/CRP have changed from one appointment to the next?

I usually cannot predict what those values will be, although lately I have been having pain without the severe inflammation I used to have in childhood. Much of my pain now seems to come from permanent joint damage sustained years ago.